Historically, break-pack store replenishment has involved the shipment of products in containers which are packed according to the manner in which the products are stocked in a distribution center (DC). In the DC, products are stocked to maximize efficiency (e.g., as measured by minimal travel time) picking. By contrast, the product layout for a store (often referred to as a “planogram”) is generally designed to maximize sales (e.g., by creating a pleasing in-store visual experience, and/or maximizing the likelihood of impulse purchases by shoppers). As a result, the layouts for products used in stores and distribution centers are generally not the same, leading to inefficiencies when products packaged according to the DC stocking scheme are used for store replenishment. For example, totes packaged according to the DC stocking scheme may have products each intended to be stocked in different aisles of the store. The need to replenish different products to different aisles from the same tote can result in extra travel time and distance in the store during replenishment because the restocking employee may be required to transit the products and/or tote between more than one aisle.
The need to avoid inefficiencies in store replenishment caused by differing layouts in stores and DCs is well known in the industry. Past efforts to meet this need have involved synchronizing store layouts with the stocking scheme used in the DC. However, this requires all of the stores serviced by a DC to have the same layout. In practice, this requirement means that attempts to synchronize DC and store layouts will be ineffective, as there is substantial inter-store variation in layouts due to factors such as markets serviced, store age, and store type. Accordingly, there is a long felt but unmet need in the art for technology which can allow a distribution center to service multiple stores having different layouts without decreasing the efficiency of replenishment at the individual stores.